Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments.
China airdrops 180 million digital yuan to celebrate Lunar New Year
According to state-owned media Global Times, Chinese cities airdropped a total of 180 million digital yuan (e-CNY) worth $26.6 million to boost consumption during the Lunar New Year celebrations between Jan. 22 and Feb. 5. Nearly 200 digital yuan activities were launched during the festival, and commercial institutions also participated in these promotions, covering various sectors such as mobile communications, supermarkets, transportation and tourism.
Data from Meituan, a popular Chinese food delivery platform, showed that its 20 million digital yuan vouchers given out in partnership with the city of Hangzhou government were claimed in less than 10 seconds. China has prioritized the development of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) as part of its digital economy transformation, with numerous local party officials receiving key performance indicator targets regarding their efforts to promote the currency.
China’s state-owned television also hosted a metaverse event for its Lunar New Year program this year. Source: FuXi.
Asia-Pacific crypto exchanges donate to Turkey
In an act of international solidarity, cryptocurrency exchanges operating from several countries in the Asia-Pacific region were quick to react to a series of devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6, with death tolls exceeding 12,000 at the time of publication. Singaporean exchange OKX said it would donate 1 million lira to the relief effort, while Binance stated it would airdrop $100 in BNB to Turkish users with addresses listed in the affected region. Cryptocurrency exchange MEXC Global also announced it would donate 1 million lira to help with earthquake relief. Meanwhile, Justin Sun, an adviser at crypto exchange Huobi Global, pledged 2 million lira for relief efforts. Donations are currently not available to Syrian…
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